Yesterday I went slalom sailing at Kanaha. I just got a brand new sail from Naish so I was super stoked to try it. On my very first run out I noticed a huge difference in the weight of the sail, their new lightweight material really made a difference. Now with any other kind of sail (wave, freestyle, freeride...) I‘ve never really thought that weight is much of an issue but with slalom it’s a different ball game. The lighter-weight improves your speed because you can really crank down and stay in a tight, sheeted in, position instead of having all kinds of excess weight bouncing around every time you hit some chop. Another reason why less weight is good is because you can easily roll in and out of a jibe. With my old sail I always had trouble with holding my sail down too long in a lay-down jibe. If you hold your sail down too long you will either go into a carving 360 or the sail will flip with the wind and when you’re using a big unforgiving slalom sail it can be problematic, it will usually swing you straight over the nose (very uncool). Needless to say I had a great sesh and now I’m pumped to compete in the Maui Race Series. It’s a great contest that consists of five events every other Sunday from June 5 to July 31 So if you’re in town during that time you should check it out!

Today I did a downwind paddle to practice for the up-coming Olu Kai race on May 15th. On the way to Maliko Bay (our starting point) we called up Dean Christener and Kody Kerbox to come along. When we started the race I figured that I would probably be able to keep up with them and maybe try to pass them. But as soon as we got around the jagged cliffs Kody was gone and I was trailing after him! I was constantly paddling trying to catch up, but he kept pulling away! I had to find a way to create more speed. How? By simply having more wind for glides. Thats when it hit me, I had to go to the outside where there was more wind and in turn bigger swells to ride. After that I was able to pass Kody but it gave me a big wake-up call. If we would have both been on the outside he probably would have won! Now I’m really focused on working harder so that come race time... I’ll be ready!

Today was my first day back on the water windsurfing since I broke my hand. Since I still have to take things slow I went slalom sailing. Of course I didn’t take things very slow! My first run out was really weird, after four weeks of not windsurfing at all everything was going so fast. It was almost like I was in slow motion and everything around me was being fast-forwarded, but at the same time it felt great! I had that first feeling of gliding across the water, almost like on your very first day windsurfing! Having a board under my feet and a sail in my hands felt so right that even though it was a terrible day, even for slalom, it felt like the best day of my life!